Friday, April 19, 2013

Sharing the Love: Connecting with Listeners by Expressing Passion for the Music

“Lovin’ on the Music” is a phrase we use at one station
group to remind ourselves that we need to regularly demonstrate our passion for music just as our listeners do.

That we remind ourselves of this is both deliberate and
strategic.

We remind ourselves because we recognize the distractions that
come with working at a promotionally active station with content-filled shows
and high profile personalities.

We also remind ourselves to love on the music so that we
don’t fall victim to a ‘been there/done that’ attitude, or become
blasé about our product while are fans are so excited about it.

We’ve already heard the newest music. We’ve seen every act – from newcomers to
superstars – in concert, often more than once. We’ve photo-opped with the stars
and had drinks with them on their tour busses.

A&O&B did a quick poll of programmers and listeners
the day after the ACMs. Compared to Programmers
and Talent, listeners rated nearly every aspect of the awards show higher – in several instances significantly higher.

In rating the show overall, three times as many listeners as
Talent and Programmers rated the show a “5" on a 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest)
scale.

On the hosts, nearly four times as many listeners rated
Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan a ”5” as did Programmers and Talent

Listeners were more enthusiastic about the speeches and even
the sets while being less critical of who won what award and the technical
issues.